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The Trump Presidency - Life In Interesting Times

I think it is time to start looking... I want to say "forward"(?)... to the Trump presidency.

It looks to be an interesting time. He really has some thin skin. Apparently Meryl Streep said something during some Hollywood awards show and Trump felt it necessary to fire off a few tweets about it...

So I agree with Donald Trump: Who cares what Meryl Streep thinks or says about him? So why does someone of his position get drawn into some petty display of childishness?

What is he going to do when someone who SHOULD be taken seriously levels criticism at him? The guy isn't even president yet and he has made more embarrassing public blunders than all the presidents in my lifetime combined.

Streep in an emotional speech Sunday night referred to Trump's imitation of Serge Kovaleski, saying it broke her heart.“There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good — there was nothing good about it — but it was effective and did its job," Streep said, without mentioning Trump by name. "It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth.”
“It was that moment, when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter — someone he out-ranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back," she continued. "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie; it was in real life.”

Questions abound as to how Trump will prosecute the conflict in Iraq against ISIS when some of America’s chief allies in that conflict are the Iran-backed Shiite militias. Thousands of members of those militia groups are in the fight to retake Mosul from ISIS, and some of them have been accused of crimes against humanity. While U.S. brass has praised the discipline of some of these forces, American military officials have nothing glowing to say about Iran’s conduct in Syria. Iranian air and ground forces began streaming into Syria as early as 2012, and Tehran’s involvement in the Syrian civil war has only deepened over the last four years.

While Trump administration has made it clear he desires rapprochement with Russia, Moscow is working hand-in-hand with Damascus and Tehran to ensure Bashar al-Assad emerges victorious. The Trump administration’s desire to see Iran punished for its provocations against the United States is going to slam into its preference for a thaw in Russo-American relations, particularly considering that the company with which Vladimir Putin surrounds himself have hands that as soaked in American blood as were Rafsanjani’s. If the Trump administration hopes to see the Middle East revert to a sort of status quo ante, in which Tehran is again relegated to the role of local pariah, the Trump White House is going to have to reconcile its contradictory attitudes toward Moscow.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

He couldn’t endure Alec Baldwin’s impression of him on “Saturday Night Live,” calling it “not funny” and saying that it “just can’t get any worse.” He reacted to an unflattering piece in Vanity Fair by saying that the magazine is “way down, big trouble, dead!” and that its editor has “no talent.” He taunted his replacement on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, for having low Nielsen numbers “by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT” — and noted that Schwarzenegger was not a supporter of his campaign.

Conversely, he shows nothing but high regard for anyone who says anything nice about him. Thus he calls Russian President Vladimir Putin “very smart” and quotes him approvingly, despite the fact that intelligence officials say Russia actively meddled in our electoral process.

I finally saw what she said. If this is what set him off, he's going to have a very long four years.

A lot of folks would prefer that Trump lay off the tweets, but IMV this gives us excellent insight into his mind. One would think that getting your Administration ready for the challenges ahead would occupy his thinking, but "the disorder" explains this kind of lashing out.

It's pretty easy to see that Trump will struggle when he's having the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah-Russia alliance explained to him, for example, and how nations are allies for some issues, but enemies on others.

His impulse will be to jump into the middle of things, say something dramatic, and turn the whole situation into a referendum on whether or not he's the most powerful man in the world.

That's the terrain that occupies his mind - keeping score of who thinks he's awesome, and who is an enemy.

We're still more than a week from Inauguration Day, and Kellyanne Conway is having to try and ward off his mocking of the disabled reporter, with pleading like:

"Why does everything have to be taken at face value? Why can't people try to see what's really in his heart?"

There was a period later in the campaign where his handlers were pleading with him to stay on message, use the teleprompters, emphasizing the polls indicated this, or that... Trump seemed worn down, almost resigned to the chance he might not win.

Every other president has been humbled at the complexity and magnitude of the issues facing the nation. Trump may get worn out trying to remember coherent trains-of-thought about issues he has no interest in.

So now there is a report that Obama and Trump were notified two days ago of compromising information held by the Russians about Trump. Rumors not worth repeating are it is some pretty sick stuff and also some pretty devastating financial stuff.

Either way it appears a lot of people are taking this seriously as both an attack by our enemies and also what Trump could have done.

Look how desperate you libs are. It's going to be a long decade for you. Jeez... the congress, the presidency... and the supreme court? Damn, I hope you enjoyed stuffing Obamacare down our throats. Stand by and watch it get dismantled. Socialism sucks.

Last edited by Devildog; 01-10-2017 at 09:29 PM.

"We should remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school." -Thucydides

"Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men."

So now there is a report that Obama and Trump were notified two days ago of compromising information held by the Russians about Trump. Rumors not worth repeating are it is some pretty sick stuff and also some pretty devastating financial stuff.

Either way it appears a lot of people are taking this seriously as both an attack by our enemies and also what Trump could have done.

Interesting times ahead.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A response from a Trump opponent who doesn't like the sliming of Trump:

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

Look how desperate you libs are. It's going to be a long decade for you. Jeez... the congress, the presidency... and the supreme court? Damn, I hope you enjoyed stuffing Obamacare down our throats. Stand by and watch it get dismantled. Socialism sucks.

LOL. All of your military benefits are socialism.

Retirement? Socialism.
Health insurance? Socialism.
G.I. Bill? Socialism.
Life Insurance/Death Benefit? Socialism.
Military hardware (guns, tanks, planes, ships)? Socialism.
Your Humvee? Socialism.
(Or was it a Hummer? GM was bailed out through Socialism).
40-hour work week? Socialism.
Sick leave? Socialism.
Vacation pay? Socialism.
Military to provide for the common defense (and not just the interests of the feudal lords)? Socialism.
National/state parks? Socialism.

The Trump Presidency - Life In Interesting Times

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

Trump is pissed that this leaked (sorry.....couldn't help my self....sometimes the jokes are just free flowing).

Even if these allegations are 100% bunk , it is frightening how truly unhinged drumpf is. I could see Russian troll farms getting him to advance the Putin agenda by getting him fired up against Russian enemies.

And if they actually have dirt on him to the point of blackmail.....then he has to be removed immediately.

Look how desperate you libs are. It's going to be a long decade for you. Jeez... the congress, the presidency... and the supreme court? Damn, I hope you enjoyed stuffing Obamacare down our throats. Stand by and watch it get dismantled. Socialism sucks.

Don't get pissy Devildog. I hope your day is golden.

Although I have to say it is a bit of a relief, these recent revelations do explain the color of his hair.

Does it really matter? Trump is more teflon that the Clintons. A tenth of the things that have already come out on him would have sunk every other political candidate. We are truly living in a banana republic. I guess all of our CIA actions over the decades have finally come home to roost. 🍌🍌🍌

Does it really matter? Trump is more teflon that the Clintons. A tenth of the things that have already come out on him would have sunk every other political candidate. We are truly living in a banana republic. I guess all of our CIA actions over the decades have finally come home to roost. 

Trump's teflon will last as long as the economy does. If we hit a recession, it will be open season and everything will be in play. People will start to care about his conflicts and his tax returns, etc. He might even get arrested if he shoots somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue

It is somewhat ironic that the guy who trafficked in fake birther news for two years (and used it to launch his profile and campaign) and made Steve Bannon a close advisor is complaining about living in Nazi Germany.

I haven't been following this story, and the jokes are weirding me out..almost enough to look into the story.

Anyway, I think the republicans (and democrats and everyone else) would love to find a reason to remove Trump. The republicans have congress, but they don't know what they have in the president. If they could get rid of that guy, they would know exactly what they have.

I think the information age has passed, and we are now living in the misinformation age.

I haven't been following this story, and the jokes are weirding me out..almost enough to look into the story.

Anyway, I think the republicans (and democrats and everyone else) would love to find a reason to remove Trump. The republicans have congress, but they don't know what they have in the president. If they could get rid of that guy, they would know exactly what they have.

I think the information age has passed, and we are now living in the misinformation age.

The rumors are there is a report with information obtained by a British operative that has video evidence of Trump in Russia with hookers doing perverted sex acts including urinating on each other. There is also rumors that the report contains damning financial information as well. Along with this report is information about how Russia hacked botht he DNC and the RNC, but only released damaging DNC info to sway the election to Trump, with the intent of using the embarrassing info to potentially control him.

Of course, as a friend aptly pointed out, do the Russians really think they can embarrass a man who publicly has bragged about his penis size? And of course, can any of this information be corroborated.

The question is just how much of this trash the American public will tolerate. Guys like Devildog - and I now believe there are a lot of them out there - will continue to turn a blind eye to any of this garbage of the most unfit man to ever be president.

Trump is pissed that this leaked (sorry.....couldn't help my self....sometimes the jokes are just free flowing).

Even if these allegations are 100% bunk , it is frightening how truly unhinged drumpf is. I could see Russian troll farms getting him to advance the Putin agenda by getting him fired up against Russian enemies.

And if they actually have dirt on him to the point of blackmail.....then he has to be removed immediately.

My favorite moment of irony: Trump tweeted to debunk the information from a "fake news" site by including a link from... *drumroll*: a fake news site.

The Trump Presidency - Life In Interesting Times

As a committed and long-term Trump detractor and non-supporter who did not vote for him, I feel weird trying to push this discussion back toward what I think is the rational middle. But let me try.

One of my law partners used to work in the White House Counsel's office. One of his jobs was to take FBI reports on proposed presidential appointees to US senators. He'd go to the senator's office and sit with him or her while while the senator read the report. These were unedited, unconfirmed, raw reports. A lot if it was pure garbage, but the senators needed to know about it. None of the garbage ever got into a confirmation hearing. When the senator finished reviewing the materials, my friend would take every page back with him to the White House. No copies were left behind.

What happened here is that someone leaked such raw, unverified materials and some news media folks (Buzzfeed) simply printed them. So tapping the brakes at this point is a very good idea, IMO.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

As a committed and long-term Trump detractor and non-supporter who did not vote for him, I feel weird trying to push this discussion back toward what I think is the rational middle. But let me try.

One of my law partners used to work in the White House Counsel's office. One of his jobs was to take FBI reports on proposed presidential appointees to US senators. He'd go to the senator's office and sit with him or her while while the senator read the report. These were unedited, unconfirmed, raw reports. A lot if it was pure garbage, but the senators needed to know about it. None of the garbage ever got into a confirmation hearing. When the senator finished reviewing the materials, my friend would take every page back with him to the White House. No copies were left behind.

What happened here is that someone leaked such raw, unverified materials and some news media folks (Buzzfeed) simply printed them. So tapping the brakes at this point is a very good idea, IMO.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No I agree, but the problem is it is apparently beyond just that raw and not vetted info, this was included in a recent intelligence briefing memo to both Trump and Obama. So there appears to be some legitimacy to it.

The speculation on what it is is just speculation, but apparently the Russians have something worthy of concern.

No I agree, but the problem is it is apparently beyond just that raw and not vetted info, this was included in a recent intelligence briefing memo to both Trump and Obama. So there appears to be some legitimacy to it.

The speculation on what it is is just speculation, but apparently the Russians have something worthy of concern.

It's my understanding (I may be wrong) that intelligence briefings are not verified either. In this case Obama and Trump were informed, essentially, "This information is out there. You need to be aware of it." If it's true then we are in for some rough times. But too many people (not you) are running with this information because they hate Trump.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats

“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”